Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day December 2016

Do freeze-dried blooms count? Haha

Astilbe (assorted)

Grama Grass - Blond Ambition
 

Sedum - Autumn Joy

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Red Fountain Grass Cuttings and “Christmas” Cactus

I like to dig up a clump of my (annual) Red Fountain Grass and bring it inside for the winter to start pots for next year. I usually dig the clump out of a large outside pot, cut the top off, shake most of the leaves and debris off, put it in a large plastic bowl and bring it inside. Where it usually sits for at least a month, often longer. Last year, head hanging in shame, I didn’t deal with it until March. This year, because of last year, I dealt with the clump a mere 36 hours after I brought it inside!! I now have 6 pots of roots with skinny stalks. I know they don’t look like much, but just wait. I have confidence they will become beautiful, full, clumps of Red Fountain Grass just waiting to go outside in May.

And, because nothing else is blooming outside, here is my Halloween Cactus. Yeah, it is supposed to be a Christmas Cactus. However, every year, for the last 25 years, it has bloomed earlier and earlier. This year, first bloom on Halloween. It is almost done now, but still pretty. I have a younger one that has just set buds. I think it will open in about 7-10 days.

~~ All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. ~~

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day November 2016

Hardly anything blooming – we’ve had a hard frost.

Honeysuckle Vine

Spring Anemone (with crispy leaves)

Snapdragons

Mums – although well past prime showing

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Blooms on my Honeysuckle Vine

We are having an unusually mild fall – it is 70 degrees on November 6^th. Sometimes we have snow flurries by this date. My Honeysuckle Vine is blooming (just a few blooms, but still).

Winding Down in my Garden

We've had a good fall! Decent warmth (relatively), not too much rain during the days, a bit of frost, but not real hard frost yet.

Lots of yellow leaves when I look around my garden. Yellow in the hostas, Redbud, Linden, Birch. Some reds from the Barberries and the Ninebarks, but it is more subdued.

Plenty of pops of color from the mums, but you have to be looking at them to notice. I gaze out my kitchen window and daydream about what I might change for next year.

I’ve got a lot of plants already cut down and cleaned up in the back and along the sides of the house. In my neighborhood, you can rake all the leaves and plant debris to the street for pickup. The city makes about 2 passes between Oct 15 and Nov 15 or so.

The mums in front are looking “fabulous, dahling”! These ones I leave until the bitter end. Sometimes, I don’t even cut the front areas back until March or so.

You can see a couple of late blooming snapdragons in the pic below.